District 1 Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership fall meeting heard from two Weakley County educators last weekend as board members from Carroll, Crockett, Dyer, Fayette, and Henry County joined hosts from Weakley at the Farm Bureau Insurance offices in Dresden.
Linda Fowler, chairman for Weakley Farm Bureau Women, invited Sharon second grade teacher Danielle Johnson and Lindsey Parham, Career and Technical Education Director for Weakley County Schools, to share with leadership from across West Tennessee regarding the benefits of Ag in the Classroom.
Johnson’s presentation covered such activities as the school garden, an in-class hydroponics garden, and hatching both chicks and praying mantis. She thanked the women for their investment in both her Sharon classroom and her professional development as they had helped her attend a national Ag in the Classroom conference.
“I can say with confidence that using what I have learned about ag in the classroom was one of the reasons for my advancement to finalist for Tennessee Teacher of the Year,” she told the audience of thirty.
Parham provided an overview of various career and technical education options in the county and focused on school greenhouses and the Weakley County Livestock Production Farm.
After a lunch of soups, sandwiches and homemade desserts, Weakley County’s Terri Brundige further explained the Women of Farm Bureau’s contributions to Nourishing Connections, hanging gardens in preschools, and the process of providing chick hatching equipment and curriculum for county second graders.
Crystal Norwood, chairman of District 1 and representing Henry County, praised the presentations as examples of how agriculture can be integrated into several fields of study.
“I definitely think the ideas shared could be used as a model for countywide projects across the state,” she said.
The topic was Ag in the Classroom as 30 Farm Bureau Women leaders convened in Dresden for the District 1 leadership fall meeting. Danielle Johnson and Lindsey Parham from Weakley County Schools along with Weakley County’s Terri Brundige provided an overview of how the local organization has supported Weakley County Schools and area preschools with expertise and gifts ranging from hanging gardens to all that is needed to hatch and study chicks. Weakley County members are seen here with state leadership: (back row, from left to right) Janice Moore, Terri Brundige, Danielle Johnson, District 1 Chairman Crystal Norwood, Alice Ann Yeargin, Janie Yeargin, Lindsey Parham; (front row, from left to right) Gail Tuck, Weakley Farm Bureau Women Chair Linda Fowler, Kathy Bates, State Chair Brenda Baker.